From January to the end of March 2024, 33% of companies in the transport, logistics & automotive sector intend to seek new employees, with 15% of organizations anticipating the need to reduce the number of positions, and 8% of employers are still unsure about their recruitment plans for the upcoming period. Meanwhile, 44% of companies in this industry do not plan to make any changes to their team structures. These are the findings from the latest “ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Barometer” report, in which companies reveal their recruitment plans for the first quarter of the upcoming year.
The “ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Barometer” report shows that during the first quarter of 2024, employers in the transport, logistics, and automotive sector have a strong appetite for hiring – the net employment outlook, acting as a barometer of the job market and showing corporate plans related to acquiring new staff, is indeed +21%. This is one of the highest results among 8 analyzed areas, and this indicator has grown by 16 percentage points compared to last year, and by 3 percentage points on a quarterly basis. This means that those considering changes can expect many job offers and opportunities for development.
“The transport, logistics, and automotive sector accounted for one of the highest net employment outlooks among the 8 analyzed sectors. This means an increase in the number of job offers on the market for people planning to change their current employer or looking for employment,” says Bartłomiej Deleżyński, Business Development Manager at Manpower. From the employee’s perspective, the forecast shows possibilities for professional development. Those employed in this area can expect frequent promotions, both horizontal and vertical. For employers, this will be a time when taking care of the employee will be an important element. The intensified search for talent will introduce competitive offers considering salary, benefits, and personal development opportunities. This situation will allow both candidates and employees in the transport, logistics, and automotive sector to negotiate better employment conditions, including a higher salary. The effect of intensified recruitment in the coming period will also focus employers on strengthening teams and retaining talent within the organization,” adds the expert.
Warehouse worker and forklift operator with the highest number of offers
According to Job Market Insights data, from early October to mid-December, more than 52 thousand advertisements directed at candidates from the transport and logistics area appeared on the Polish network. Companies most often looked for warehouse workers, forklift operators, warehouse staff, drivers, and international forwarders. The most employment opportunities were for people from Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków, Gdańsk, and Poznań. “The transport, logistics, and automotive sector offers the most opportunities in terms of the number of job offers for candidates from the Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków, Gdańsk, Poznań, and Łódź areas. These cities are not random – these are the areas where factories and warehouses from the sector exist or are being created. Poland, in terms of its location, is attractive for investors from the transport, logistics, and automotive area – the availability of large amounts of land and relatively low land prices are mostly of interest. These locations are most attractive for the industry, hence new investments appear in these areas,” adds the expert.
Transport, logistics, and automotive industry in the EMEA region
The ManpowerGroup report also presents the recruitment plans of companies located in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. As the analysis shows, employers in the transport, logistics, and automotive sector look at the first quarter of this year with even greater optimism than companies located in Poland. The net employment outlook in this sector for the EMEA region for the first few months of the new year is +28%. Intensified recruitment activity plans 41% of organizations, 16% count on the need to reduce positions, and 3% of organizations do not know the recruitment plans for the coming months. 40% of employers in this industry in the EMEA region want to keep employment at the current level.
“In recent months, companies have most often looked for employees for the positions of warehouse worker, forklift operator, warehouse worker, driver, and international forwarder. These are still typical positions for the sector.
Certainly, the position of forklift operator will be a challenge and a more significant focus of recruitment. Regulations which, from January 1, eliminate permanent authorization will make those who possess them a tasty morsel for the market. The transport, logistics, and automotive sector is changing greatly from the perspective of developing automation and robotics. This is particularly important in terms of human resources, where in the near future, we will be dealing with completely different competencies required from warehouse workers. However, nothing will replace human work – there are therefore no prospects for human work to be replaced by robots in warehouses,” summarizes Bartłomiej Deleżyński.
